PMID- 21851821
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20120309
LR  - 20211020
IS  - 1095-6867 (Electronic)
IS  - 0018-506X (Print)
IS  - 0018-506X (Linking)
VI  - 60
IP  - 5
DP  - 2011 Nov
TI  - Increasing oxytocin receptor expression in the nucleus accumbens of pre-pubertal 
      female prairie voles enhances alloparental responsiveness and partner preference 
      formation as adults.
PG  - 498-504
LID - 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2011.07.018 [doi]
AB  - Oxytocin receptors (OXTR) in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) promote alloparental 
      behavior and partner preference formation in female prairie voles. Within the 
      NAcc there is significant individual variation in OXTR binding and virgin 
      juvenile and adult females with a high density of OXTR in the NAcc display an 
      elevated propensity to engage in alloparental behavior toward novel pups. 
      Over-expression of OXTR in the NAcc of adult female prairie voles using viral 
      vector gene transfer facilitates partner preference formation, but has no effect 
      on alloparental behavior, even though OXTR antagonists infused into the NAcc 
      blocks both behaviors. We therefore hypothesized that long-term increases in OXTR 
      signaling during development may underlie the relationship between adult OXTR 
      density in the NAcc and alloparental behavior. To test this hypothesis, we used 
      viral vector gene transfer to increase OXTR density in the NAcc of prepubertal, 
      21day old female prairie voles and tested for both alloparental behavior and 
      partner preference formation as adults. Consistent with a developmental impact of 
      OXTR signaling, adults over-expressing OXTR from weaning display both increased 
      alloparental behavior and partner preference formation. Thus, the relatively 
      acute impact of elevated OXTR signaling in the NAcc on partner preference 
      formation previously reported appears to be dissociable from the effects of 
      longer term, developmentally relevant OXTR signaling necessary for modulating 
      alloparental behavior. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that 
      oxytocin can have both long-term "organizational" effects as well as acute 
      "activational" effects on affiliative behaviors.
CI  - Copyright (c) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
FAU - Keebaugh, Alaine C
AU  - Keebaugh AC
AD  - Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Center for Translational Social 
      Neuroscience, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. alaine@keebaugh.com
FAU - Young, Larry J
AU  - Young LJ
LA  - eng
GR  - K02 MH064692/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/United States
GR  - P51 OD011132/OD/NIH HHS/United States
GR  - K02 MH064692-01/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/United States
GR  - P51 RR000165/RR/NCRR NIH HHS/United States
GR  - NIHMH064692/PHS HHS/United States
GR  - RR00165/RR/NCRR NIH HHS/United States
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
DEP - 20110807
PL  - United States
TA  - Horm Behav
JT  - Hormones and behavior
JID - 0217764
RN  - 0 (Receptors, Oxytocin)
SB  - IM
MH  - Animals
MH  - Arvicolinae/*metabolism/*physiology
MH  - Female
MH  - Nucleus Accumbens/*metabolism
MH  - Pair Bond
MH  - Receptors, Oxytocin/antagonists & inhibitors/*biosynthesis
PMC - PMC3210320
MID - NIHMS318170
EDAT- 2011/08/20 06:00
MHDA- 2012/03/10 06:00
PMCR- 2012/11/01
CRDT- 2011/08/20 06:00
PHST- 2011/04/26 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2011/07/25 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2011/07/26 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2011/08/20 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2011/08/20 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2012/03/10 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2012/11/01 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - S0018-506X(11)00179-6 [pii]
AID - 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2011.07.018 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Horm Behav. 2011 Nov;60(5):498-504. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2011.07.018. Epub 2011 
      Aug 7.